Fresh Air | CWBC

This is another ChristianWriters.com Blog-Chain installment. The topic this month is ‘Fresh Air’. To read more blog articles on this topic, please navigate from the link list on the right.

There is something to be said for the steady pace of a life outside of the metropolitan. Life doesn’t sprint past you, leaving you out of breath and wondering what you accomplished. On the east side of the Snoqualmie pass it is up to the hubs and I to make things happen, which opens our minds and imaginations to a long list of adventures standing just outside our doorstep. It becomes our choice to lounge, fish, swim, boat, hike, walk… you get the picture.

In fact, this weekend the hubs and I took up our fishing poles and picnic items and journeyed out for a lunch of bbq burgers and some fishing. The feel of the sun on my face and arms and the soft kiss of the cool breeze off Banks Lake was wonderful, relaxing.

Would I have done the same in Western Wash? Perhaps, to a degree, but more often than not my habit was to get home and try and relax from the hectic journey to and from work. Traffic truly is a muse squasher for me, and it would often take more energy to gird myself up for an evening of editing or writing than I had in reserve.

What I find here in the expanse that is Eastern Wash is a rejuvenating 90-minute one-way commute surrounded by lake after lake, sun-kissed cliff sides, and clear blue skies that are speckled with herons, hawks, magpies and various other birds. How can a person NOT be inspired by that? Well, a person such as I who was raised on a 30-acre homestead. This change of life encompasses not only an alteration to my surroundings, but to my very life’s view.

The Fresh Air of this new ‘way of life’ smacks with the flavor of what being a full-time writer could be, and I must say I am eager for that arrival!

Until that day comes, I will make use of the silent, quality time of my commute to obsess over the outline for my novels, swirling the ideas in my head until my characters and I decide on what the circumstances and outcomes for their destiny happen to be. Perhaps I will even be able to finish the revisions that are dawdling in my head for my contemporary romance and my science fiction YA series?

Time will tell, and the fresh air of the lakes and canyons will be there waiting for me when I venture forth down this new road of creative imaginings.

Inspiring post! My wife and I spent a week out in the Idaho/Washington/Montana area last year during the transition from fall to winter. The scenery was incredible, and the view of the Columbia River valley as we went westbound on I-90 was absolutely stunning. I only wish we had more time to explore the region!

Long commutes are also good times for audiobooks and even prayer. One can also usually find a moment at some point to jot ideas down in a notebook. I always wondered if anybody ever recorded their ideas on a long commute on a tape recorder…

That was lovely post-Thank you for drawing me in and now I am jealous that I don’t have that 90 minute commute through paradise. I do remember those long commutes when I lived in California, not much time for daydreaming- “Defense” in the name of the game on the interstates! Enjoy your time and using a digital recorder would be a great asset. I just hate getting and Idea and forgetting to write it down, them I am wondering ” What was that??? shoot!!” Blessings and continued success with your writing adventure

Thanks, Terrie. XD I have already experience a few “What was that I was thinking???” moments when i didn’t jot down my notes. Perhaps I should look into a digital recorder and begin teaching myself how to listen internally while expounding orally?

Know what you mean about shedding the city life. We ran away to Coastal Oregon a little over ten years ago and haven’t looked back. Now, any time we get back in the Portland area it feels horribly crowded…and we lived there for 15 years and thought it was just a dandy place. I have to admit your long commute would ive me pause, but the NW does have more than its share of beautiful places.
Peace and Blessings

Your post is striking a chord with a lot of us. Long drives can be a great time to decompress. I’ve had some inspiration for my characters or a scene or two while driving. This doesn’t happen when driving in too much traffic, though, does it? There are too many other things to distract … I have found a commute via train, subway or even city bus can afford some good ‘thinking’ time, though…

Hmm … what’s rinsing off your car have to do with natural scenery? You keep talking about washing and hubs! LOL!

But seriously, though I’ve never been to the northwestern corner of our country, I already have a constant reminder of God’s beauty in nature here in Colorado. Especially those rare times when I get to venture into the mountains. The beauty and serenity of untouched forestry is unmatched in anything the city can offer.

Very true! When I worked in Seattle and lived in Kent, I took the commuter train and then the vanshare to the office. It gave me about 35 minutes to read or write, but it would generally take me about that length of time to really get rolling! T_T

Colorado?! I love visiting CO. We were in Ouray for several days during a road trip with my family (when we took the narrow gauge railroad from silverton to durango). It was gorgeous, and definitely some of the best views here in the NW.

Just before my parents began having kids they moved from Chicago to the beautiful countryside of Wisconsin. I can’t imagine living anywhere else! Just visiting family in Chicago makes me feel claustrophobic and overwhelmed! It once took us almost four hours to just drive through it, bumper to bumper traffic the entire way! I can see how you would be willing to make a 90-minute commute to escape it all! Great post, Nona!!

It is true that life in the city can be a muse killer for me as well. Every now and then it is good to take a trip “off the grid” and find the things time has left alone. Thank you for writing. I hope you do find a full time writing life.

Your setting sounds positively inspiring. I don’t think as well while drivng but I park at a free carpark and then walk 15 minutes in to work – only some of that walk is through the CBD. I find myself doing a lot of thinking and spending time with my characters during this time.

When I retire (seems like a lifetime away) I think I might live somewhere inspiring and write full time, as long as we are close to a hospirtal because I think my wife will be nursing right up until the day that she needs to be nursed herself in a home.

Nona, I must say, I cannot even imagine a 90 minute commute — one way! Whew! What a blessing to be driving through such incredibly beautiful country though. And while I can’t imagine the commute, I can imagine nearly three hours of quiet, alone time every day to think through my writing. So, from my writer’s heart to yours, until you’re writing full time and I have time to think in full sentences, I join you in thanking God for His beautiful, inspiring gift of fresh air!

I have to take a 60-minute commute through the heart of Denver. Can’t say the scenery is quite as lovely or inspiring . . . and yet I usually find a way to use the time for creative purposes. I’ve always loved to drive anyway. When I was younger, I used to drive to Colorado Springs and back once or twice a week just to process story ideas behind the wheel. These days I keep a digital recorder handy to ensure I don’t lose any of the ideas spring up between work and home.

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About Nona King

Nona King was born in Oregon City, Oregon, and grew up on a 30-acre homestead in historic Aurora, pop. 540. She has been writing songs, plays, and romance & adventure novels since 1988.

Her first paranormal fantasy series, The Soul Cycle, is a winner of the National Novel Writing Month and based on adventure campaigns written by her husband, Michael King. Her inspirational romance, Searching for Sara: Heart of the Blessed Book One, won Honorable Mention in the 2011 Deep River Books Writing Contest, and 'Indie Book of the Day' on July 26, 2013.

Nona started her own publishing company, Angel Breath Books, in 2008. ABB publishes novels focusing on faith, honor, and the importance of communication in our relationships with others.